Airscan
AirScan is a Florida Based[1] airborne security and surveilence company based in the United States. The company was founded in 1989 by two retired United States military officers[2]. Airscan are one of the few private operators of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the world[3].
Contents
Canada
Canadian mining firms have worked with Airscan[4].
Colombia
According to Eric Watkins of the Oil & Gas Journal:
- "In 2003, Alberto Galvis sought punitive damages from Occidental Petroleum for the deaths of his mother, a sister, and a cousin, who were among 18 civilians killed when a Colombian military helicopter dropped a bomb on a village near the Cano Limon Pipeline in an antiguerrilla operation.
- Occidental was named in the lawsuit because pilots of AirScan (a security firm Occidental used to protect its oil interests) mapped targets for the Colombian military.
- Occidental Petroleum denied any responsibility either for the bombing or for the deaths of the civilians"[5]
According to a report in Politics and Government Week:
- "According to the LA Times, a security firm hired by Occidental to monitor guerrilla movements (another U.S. company known as AirScan) provided coordinates to Colombian military pilots when they dropped cluster bombs on Santo Domingo, a village near one of the company's pipelines. Seventeen civilians, including seven children, died in the attack"[6].
Iraq
Airscan were subcontracted by Erinys International to provide night time aerial surveillence of Iraqi oil pipelines, according to Energy Compass:
- "Erinys was the major security provider, but subcontracted some work to Security Application of Indiana, while Florida's AirScan provided night air surveillance"[7].
In September 2008 Airscan were awarded a further $165 million contract by the US Army for surveillance support services in Iraq[8].
Affiliations
Occidental Pertroleum | Erinys International
Notes
- ↑ Pamela Hess, Iraq oil attacked 196 times since war, UPI, 20-January-2005, Accessed 08-December-2009
- ↑ About Airscan, About Us, AirScan.com, Accessed 08-December-2009
- ↑ Spotlight, Private Security for Pipelines?, Africa Energy Intelligence, 17-November-2004, Accessed 08-December-2009
- ↑ David Pugliese, Soldiers of fortune: In the lawless reality of much of the post-Cold War world, private security is a booming business. And Canada, once noted for peacekeeping, is emerging as a source of talented guns for hire, Ottawa Citizen, 12-November-2005, Accessed 08-December-2009
- ↑ Eric Watkins, The extravagant allegation club, Oil & Gas Journal, 10-August-2009, Accessed 08-December-2009 via Nexis UK
- ↑ Expanded Reporting, Steelworkers Join Los Angeles Activists in Demanding Occidental Petroleum Stop its Complicity of Human Rights Abuses in Colombia, Politics & Government Week, 4-August-2004, Accessed 08-December-2009 via Nexis UK
- ↑ Feature Stories, Iraq: Guarding the oil, Energy Compass, 17-December-2004, Accessed 08-December-2009
- ↑ US Fed News, U.S. Army Awards $165 Million Contract to AirScan for Surveillance Support, US Fed News, 13-September-2008, Accessed 08-Decmber-2009 via Nexis UK
